Just Ask Restaurant of the Month for September - Kilkenny Design Centre Restaurant

With the seventh Savour Kilkenny Food Festival coming up (24-28 October 2013; www.savourkilkenny.com), there’s no better time to visit the Marble City - and no better place to eat than the Kilkenny Design Centre, just across the road from Kilkenny Castle. It has long been a favourite destination for lovers of good food and that’s down to the committed leadership of Kathleen Moran, proprietor since the centre opened in 1989.

Together with a strong team, some of whom have worked with her for over twenty years, she’s always proud to shout about the good food of Ireland and - increasingly, as the range of foods produced in this richly productive area has grown - that of the locality.

For many years this atmospheric restaurant in the former stables of Kilkenny Castle was a daytime venue, known especially for great baking and homely specialities like their famous chicken and broccoli crumble which is made with the local Lavistown cheese, and they gradually built up a foodhall offering artisan produce, food gifts and light bites. More recently, they took a leap of faith and opened an elegant evening restaurant (Thu-Sat), with chef Paul Cullen at the helm in the kitchen, and it has proved a huge success.

The food concept at the Kilkenny Design is strong and genuine; it has evolved slowly and organically over a long period - the 25th anniversary comes up next year, and they deserve every success for the next quarter of a century too.

SAMPLE MENU - Evening Menu

The room in which you are sitting was built in the 1760s as grain stores for the Earl of Ormonde’s horses. The Kilkenny Design Centre was originally part of a large complex of buildings attached to the castle that housed a dairy, stables, coach houses and accommodation for grooms. In the 1960s the buildings were refurbished by award-winning architect Niall Montgomery. Since 1989 the building has been home to Kilkenny Design Centre – offering an unrivalled selection of Irish handcrafted and international gifts and award-winning food.

“Just Ask!” is a public awareness campaign that aims to encourage consumers when eating out to look for information on where the food (particularly meat) on their plate comes from, and encourages chefs to provide this information on their menus. The programme supports both large and smaller artisan suppliers, encouraging both Irish diners and visitors from abroad to support restaurants that are in turn supporting their suppliers.

Here at Georgina Campbell Guides we have always been avid supporters of the ‘eat local’ concept, and we always enjoy reading menus that have a real sense of place. The dining experience is greatly enriched by knowing that the food on your plate is inspired by the produce and traditions of the area, and sourced nearby – and we would love to see more chefs sharing that precious information with their guests.

If you are a visitor to the area, learning a little about local food and the people who produce it adds a special extra dimension to the visit – and, for residents, it reinforces a natural pride in the good things of their locality and makes a meal all the more enjoyable.

So, we are delighted by the high standard of menus that continue to be submitted for our ' “Just Ask!” Restaurant of the Month Competition', menus that really speak of the best of Irish foods – and the dedication of both the people who make them, and the chefs who select them to create wonderful dishes with real Irish flavour for our enjoyment.

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